Solicitors In - Work Accident Information

Legal requirements

This section provides a summary of employers' and employees' key responsibilities for ensuring the health, safety and welfare of their employees. Further details can be obtained from publications listed in the reference section.

Employees' health, safety and welfare at work are protected by law. This means that employers have a duty under the law to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable:

* the health, safety and welfare at work of their employees; and
* employees are consulted and informed about health and safety issues, ie issues are discussed with the employees or their safety representative, if there is one.

Employees have a duty to co-operate with their employer by using the safe systems of work correctly.
Definitions of legal terms
Substances hazardous to health

This term has a legal meaning within the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations. In summary, it covers substances or preparations carrying the very toxic, toxic, harmful, corrosive or irritant symbol; substances and products with occupational exposure limits known as workplace exposure limits (WELs); biological agents, dusts of any kind that have a concentration in air equal to or greater than 10 mg/m3 (inhalable) and 4 mg/m3 (respirable); and substances whose chemical or toxic properties and the way they are used or produced create a risk to health (eg 'wet work').
Suitable and sufficient

The measures taken are appropriate to the risk or risks involved and it is reasonably practicable for prevention or adequate control of the risk or risks involved without increasing the overall risks.
As low as reasonably practicable (ALARP)

This involves weighing a risk against the trouble, time and money needed to control it.

* More detailed explanation of ALARP[2].

Adequate control

Control measures, including PPE and welfare facilities, can be considered adequate if they can provide a level of protection required to reduce the exposure to comply with the law.
Employers' general duties

In general, the duties of employers include:

* keeping the workplace safe and without risks to health;
* drawing up a health and safety policy statement if there are five or more employees;
* ensuring articles and hazardous substances are moved, stored and used safely;
* providing adequate welfare facilities;
* giving employees the information, instruction, training and supervision necessary for maintaining health and safety;
* appointing a competent person(s) to assist with health and safety responsibilities and consulting employees or their safety representative about this appointment;
* preventing or adequately controlling exposure to hazardous substances that may cause damage to the health of employees and others affected by the undertaking;
* providing free any protective clothing or equipment, where risks are not adequately controlled by other means;
* ensuring that appropriate safety signs are provided and maintained;
* reporting certain injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences to the appropriate health and safety enforcing authority.

In particular, the employer must:

* assess the risks to employees' health and safety. If there are five or more employees, they must record the significant findings of the assessment;
* identify measures for controlling the risks;
* make arrangements for putting those measures into effect; and
* ensure those measures continue to work and are correctly used.

Employees' duties

Employees have legal duties under the law. They include:

* taking reasonable care for their own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by what they do or don't do;
* co-operating with the employer on health and safety;
* correctly using work items provided by the employer, including personal protective equipment;
* using all safe systems of work in accordance with training or instructions;
* not interfering with or misusing anything provided for their health, safety or welfare.

Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH)

An employer must not carry out any work, which can expose employees, by any route (skin, inhalation or ingestion), to substances hazardous to health, unless the employer has:

* carried out a 'suitable and sufficient' risk assessment of the health risks created by that work; and
* identified the steps needed to comply with the regulations; and
* put the identified steps into effect.


Prevention or control of exposure

The risk assessment must consider whether it is reasonably practicable to prevent skin exposure. If prevention is not reasonably practicable, the assessment should identify how to ensure adequate control of skin exposure. The COSHH Regulations are 'goal setting' and recognise that risk cannot always be eliminated. The aim is therefore to reduce the risk of exposure to hazardous substances to a level that is as low as reasonably practicable.
Skin exposure risk assessment

A risk assessment should take account of the following:

* hazardous properties of the chemical(s);
* health effects caused by the chemical(s);
* routes, extent, frequency and duration of exposure;
* amount of chemical(s) used or produced, including those produced as by-products, released by chemical reactions during the process or found in waste products;
* type of work (such as emergency, maintenance or routine work);
* where it is carried out (eg fixed installation, temporary site or peripatetic work);
* effectiveness of controls. Those identified during the risk assessment or existing preventive or control measures;
* results of any monitoring data (eg surface contamination, skin contamination and biological monitoring);
* results of applicable health surveillance data.

Recording a risk assessment

Where there are five or more employees, the employer must record the findings of:

* the risk assessment; and
* the preventive or control steps to be put in place, including administrative measures, to comply with the regulations.

Reviewing a risk assessment

The employer must review the assessment if:

* for any reason, the assessment is considered to be not valid; or
* the work has changed and it has no resemblance to the assessment in place; or
* some other information has become available and indicates that the assessment is no longer valid.

For a List of Local Solicitors please follow this link:
Specialist Work Accident Solicitors

Article Reference: hse .gov.uk/skin/professional/legal.htm

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